Imprévu
by JinnySkeans
Summary: It's how you play the cards you're dealt. AU
1. Chapter 1

April 20th

"Oh my _God,_" Ino sighed, laying back against the pillows. "I feel like I just got hit by a truck."

"And you look like it, too, babe," said Shikamaru with a smirk, not even bothering to look at her as he disparaged her appearance. His exclusive attention was devoted to the small blue bundle in his arms as he leaned back in the plastic chair next to Ino's bed.

"I'm too tired to deal with your shit attitude," Ino snapped.

"Relax," Sakura chided from her bedside, stroking her sweaty blonde hair. "You've been through a lot, piggy. And so has the baby, last thing he needs to hear two hours after he's born is you screaming at his father."

Ino huffed.

"Well if I can't do _that,_ can't you use your hospital influence and dig me up some fucking comfortable pillows?"

"Not like I have much influence yet," Sakura reminded her with a smile. "It's not like they give extra privileges to premed students. Things like comfortable pillows don't come with the package till you're a resident."

"Ugh. What a useless godmother you're turning out to be."

Sakura could only laugh; Ino was handling the sensitive post-birth hours with all the fire one would expect from her, folding her arms and sniping at everybody. Everybody except the gorgeous little boy in Shikamaru's arms: blue eyes, messy black hair, six pounds, two oz and eighteen inches long.

It was nearly midnight. Everyone was exhausted. The birth had been difficult. Sakura's hand was still numb from Ino holding onto it so tightly and her eardrums ached from all the screaming, but she would never be anywhere else. The baby was healthy and beautiful, Ino had made it through the birth safely, and everybody was fine. She couldn't ask for more.

"Hey, Sakura, you wanna hold him? I gotta grab some shuteye."

For once, Sakura didn't begrudge her best friend's boyfriend for his sleepiness. They'd all been through a lot that day, and she was sure Shikamaru's hand bore the same numbness Ino had inflicted in hers. He hadn't fainted, at least, something a lot of first-time fathers experienced in the delivery room.

She smiled and nodded, quickly squirting some of the hospital-provided sanitizer onto her hands and letting them air dry before reaching out to accept the baby.

Shikamaru passed him over and Sakura let herself melt. The baby was so very small, pink and a bit wrinkled but breathtakingly beautiful. He was sleeping soundly, freshly changed and wearing blue cotton; she pressed a kiss to his warm little forehead and smiled down at him.

"And you still don't have a name for him," Sakura said, shaking her head. "That's unlike you, Pig, not having everything planned out to the last detail."

"Well I wasn't exactly _expecting_ to have a boy," Ino sniffed. "I was so sure it'd be a girl. I had a ton of names picked out for a girl."

"You're the one who wanted it to be a surprise," Shikamaru snarked, as he squeezed himself into the hospital bed beside his cranky girlfriend. "If you'd just let the obstetrician tell us the sex when she knew it five months ago, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"What's the situation?" Sakura couldn't resist asking.

"A carnation pink nursery at home with a ton of baby girl dresses."

Sakura made sure to keep her laughter to a minimum so as not to disturb the little one in her arms. A soft knock at the door interrupted whatever name Ino was about to call her boyfriend, followed by Naruto poking his head inside.

"Can I see the baby?" he asked excitedly, without bothering to ask if Ino was all right. "Can I hold the baby? C'mon, Ino, let me see him!"

"Keep your voice down," Ino snapped. "He's sleeping! You can hold him if you shut up till he's eighteen."

"Come here, Naruto," Sakura said with a smile. "First sanitize your hands. I don't want you getting ramen juice all over my godson."

Naruto was all too eager to obey, and when his hands were to Sakura's standard, she had him pull up a seat beside her. It was adorable to witness; normally burly, happy-go-lucky Naruto was as rowdy and wild as any 21-year-old college football player, but he was staring at the baby with open fascination, silent in his awe. He held out his muscular arms with an air of uncertainty to accept the little bundle she carefully passed over.

"Always support his head," Sakura instructed. "Infants can't do it on their own. All right, there you go, just like that."

"He's so _little,_" Naruto whispered, reverent.

"Have you ever held a baby before?"

"Nope, Sak. This is my first time."

"That's what she said," Shikamaru quipped. Ino, too tired to bark at him, just giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. He slung an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead; both of them were asleep in the next minute.

"Where is everybody?" Sakura whispered to Naruto.

"Kiba's stuck working late, he's gonna come by when he gets off in a few hours. Hinata was here earlier but she had to leave, something with her sister. Chouji's on his way down now from Suna, his family was on vacation when they got the call."

"They're gonna spoil you rotten, baby," cooed Sakura to the nameless little boy sleeping in Naruto's arms. "We all are. You're a natural, Naruto, look at you!"

He beamed at the praise and blushed all the way to his ears.

"So what's this little guy's name?" he asked quietly.

"Don't have one yet. Ino was sure she was having a girl. You know how she is."

"Typical Ino," Naruto scoffed. "I'll just call him Naruto Jr."

"She's gonna kill you."

"It'd be worth it. Wow, Sak, he's so _small._ How long till he can walk? Gotta bulk him up, get him ready for football season."

"That might take a little while," she giggled, then yawned.

"You've been here since she went into labor?" Naruto asked. "Geez, you should head home, get some sleep. You've gotta be as tired as they are." He jerked his head towards Ino and Shikamaru, both fast asleep and snoring on the hospital bed.

"I don't want to," she admitted. "I don't want to miss a second more than I have to. But you're right; I've got exams tomorrow. You picked a hell of a time to be born, sweetheart. Here, Naruto, let me put him back in his crib, wanna give me a ride home?"

"Yeah, sure. See ya, Junior!"

Naruto passed the baby back, and Sakura gently placed him in the hospital crib beside Ino's bed. Ino stirred at the noise and reflexively checked the baby, already attuned to the requirements of being a mother despite her exhaustion and bad mood.

"You headin' out?" she asked Sakura, after she was sure the baby was asleep and fine beside her.

"Yeah. Got that nightmare exam tomorrow morning. You gonna be okay without me?"

"I'm gonna sleep till Christmas."

"I bet. Call me if you need anything, I'll be in tomorrow to help you check out and everything. I'm _serious,_ Pig, if something's wrong…"

"I know, I _know,_ Mother."

"Good. Love you, baby." Sakura kissed her best friend on the cheek and smiled down at her. "I'm proud of both of you."

…

Once at home, Sakura kicked off her shoes and jacket and released a heavy, tired sigh. She'd been at the hospital for over 24 hours and she was willing to bet it showed in her looks. A good cup of tea would do her wonders, then a long night's sleep.

Unwilling to wait for the tea kettle, she microwaved a teacup full of water and let a peppermint teabag steep for a few minutes, standing at her kitchen counter and thinking on the days' events.

She literally couldn't imagine being Ino right now. This morning, Ino had been a normal 21-year-old girl, a good student, popular and busy and in a solid relationship. Now, just hours later, she was a mother. There was a baby that was 100% reliant on her to survive. She was no longer just Ino Yamanaka. Everything was different.

Sakura almost envied her that new responsibility. She wanted kids someday like almost everybody else, but couldn't imagine having them so early. She was nearly finished with college and after that, it was off to medical school, followed by internships and a residency, and…other mitigating circumstances that would make having a family somewhat difficult. She was happy with her life and where she was headed, but seeing that _glow_ in Ino's face, that unmistakable _joy_ under all that bad attitude, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. Not of the circumstances, necessarily, but definitely of that _glow._

Her hand flew reflexively to her flat stomach, and she sighed as she removed the teabag from her cup, tossing it at the trashcan. It hit the lid and fell to the floor with a sick little squelch.

_I'll get it tomorrow,_ she thought with a roll of her eyes, leaning back on her counter and sipping the microwaved tea slowly.

Ino's offer to make her godmother was of course expected, but Sakura was nonetheless deeply touched. She knew that if the circumstances were reversed, Ino would have been her first choice as well. 'Godmother' was just a title, of course, and she would only be expected to show up at big family events and buy the little boy good presents for special occasions to fulfill her duties, but it was also a show of faith. The odds of anything happening to Ino or Shikamaru were slim to none, but if for some reason their little boy found himself without his birth parents, Sakura was the one they'd chosen as a contingency.

_Long day,_ she thought with a yawn, smiling into her empty teacup. _I MUST be exhausted, getting all philosophical with this. _

She dragged herself into her bedroom and collapsed on the mattress, clothes still on, and shut her eyes. Mentally, she flicked through all the things she had to take care of tomorrow: exams, top of the list, followed by returning to the hospital with a change of clothes for Ino when she and the baby were discharged…

She was nearly asleep when her phone rumbled in her pocket. Growling a little under her breath in annoyance, but realizing it might be Ino with an issue at the hospital, she pulled it out and quickly read the text.

From: Asshole

"Where are you?"

Quickly she shut her phone again and tossed it away from her, a chill rocketing down her spine. She jumped up out of bed and compulsively checked to make sure her front door was locked, then she flitted through her apartment drawing curtains over her windows.

_You should've known better than this,_ she chastised herself harshly, locking her bedroom door and forcing herself to lay down again. _Mixing business with pleasure. THIS is what you get!_

She hated thinking of _him_ right before falling asleep, especially after such an amazing, draining day.

_I don't want him to be my last thought tonight, for once,_ Sakura thought, fighting against the feeling of uneasiness that coursed through her as she made herself close her eyes. _I want to think about the baby, how glad I am that he's healthy, how glad I am that Ino made it through everything okay. I want to think about graduation, it's so _close_ and then medical school. I want to think about some wonderful new guy waiting for me just around the corner once I pull my head out of my ass and stop dating DICKHEADS._

Mulish to a fault, Sakura buried her anxiety under sheer stubbornness, and soon after drifted off to sleep.

…

Tuesday, October 27th

11:42 pm

"Thank you for coming at such a late hour, Miss Haruno. My name is Detective Morino. Please, have a seat."

"I…I got the, um, the phone call. So it's…it's true, then?"

"I'm afraid so, Miss Haruno. First responders arrived on the scene – corner of Eighth and Lex – but there was nothing they could do. Both Mr. Nara and Miss Yamanaka were pronounced DOA. We're waiting on all the reports, of course, but several eyewitnesses claim they saw a blue Toyota swerve into Mr. Nara's lane; apparently, to try and avoid its path, he drove off the road and the car hit a tree."

"Oh my God. Oh my _God._ They…they've got a, um, a son. As-Asuma. He's…oh my God please no. Please tell me he wasn't in the car!"

"No, he was apparently being babysat by a family friend. Mr…Chouji Akimichi, according to the report. Mr. Akimichi is keeping him overnight until other arrangements can be made."

"…other arrangements?"

"I understand that neither Miss Yamanaka nor Mr. Nara have other relatives? Parents, uncles, aunts, siblings?"

"N-no, they don't. Ino's dad skipped town after she was born, her mom died of lung cancer a few years ago. Shikamaru's parents died in a car accident when he was young. I'm…I'm Asuma's godmother."

"Yes, we've already checked over the official documentation."

"So…so you can't make _other arrangements._ What, like CPS?"

"In cases of orphaned children, we…"

"_Don't say it! _Oh my God, no. I can't do that. I can't let him be taken away. I'll take care of him. I'll…I'll take him in. I have to. I've got to, Ino wanted it this way, Ino wouldn't have wanted me to let him go!"

"I understand your duress, Miss Haruno, but…"

"You _understand?_ My best friend…my…my _sister_…she's dead. You're telling me she's dead, and so's Shikamaru and _he's_ one of my best friends, too…you're telling me some asshole ran them off the road and and and that you're making _other arrangements_ for their _baby?_ For their poor little boy, he's…he's six _fucking_ months old and now he's got no parents. Don't you tell me you _understand!_"

"A poor choice of words on my part, it seems. I'm sorry, Miss Haruno, truly sorry for your loss. As godmother, and without any other next of kin, you are, naturally, a candidate for the raising of Asuma Nara. There will be a custody hearing as soon as we can schedule one. In the meantime…"

"In the meantime he'll stay with _me._"

"With all due respect, Miss Haruno, you are only 21 years old. A college student, if that sweatshirt you're wearing is any indication…is your residence truly child-appropriate? A six-month-old baby is no small responsibility, and without adequate preparation…"

"I'll stay at Ino's until all this is sorted out. Until I get my place in order and we…we figure out what to do. She's got everything Asuma needs there. I'll…I'll go there. I'll pick up Asuma from Chouji's and I'll take him back to his home and I'll figure out what to do but I need to see that baby."

"…if it's any comfort, initial reports suggest that…that neither of your friends suffered. It…it was quick."

"…"

"If it's your desire to keep Asuma, and raise him yourself, then preparations must be made. Baby-proofing, naturally. Lifestyle changes. Daycare. Employment. Location. All of these are factors that must be taken into account for a new mother, if you wish to raise the little one on your own. We have counselors here who can assist you if you need it. You seem like a very loyal young lady and I would hate to have this baby separated from his remaining family."

"…"

"As for the funerals…"

"I'll…I'll handle that tomorrow. I have to go. I'm sorry, I know you're just doing your job. I have to go. I have to see the baby. I'm sorry."

* * *

**note..** never really tackled a parenting story before, since i don't know all that much about being a parent lolz. thought i'd try my hand at it in a roundabout kind of way. i realize not all that much is explained in the intro but there's a reason (trust me plzzzz) and like everything else i do, it'll be sasuke/sakura eventually. so if you like it, go ahead and let me know. and if you didn't, write your own story to your exact specifications and don't try and impose them on me lololol. hope you guys are having a good holiday weekend :)

xoxo daisy :)


	2. Chapter 2

October 28th, 9:03 AM

The baby was fast asleep, a warm little weight on Sakura's chest. She lay flat on her back, both arms wrapped around Asuma for support, her eyes glassy and unfocused as she stared up at the ceiling.

Ino's bed smelled strongly of her perfume. She figured it might be a comfort to Asuma, even if it was pure torture for her. Scent was the strongest sense tied to memory, and Sakura was struggling with the concept of everything about Ino Yamanaka being nothing more than a memory now.

It was a devastation that ran marrow-deep. Ino was gone. Ino was _gone._ She'd been out with Shikamaru and now _he_ was gone, too. Just like that.

_It was just a movie date,_ Sakura thought weakly, as tears flooded from her eyes. She kept her sniffling to a minimum so as not to disturb the baby in her arms. _They…they just needed a break from work, and…and parenting…they just wanted to see a movie. That was all. And now they're not coming back. Now they're…they're never coming back._

And little Asuma had no idea.

She wasn't sure why she'd felt so adamant about keeping Asuma. By her own admission, she wasn't ready for a child. She'd always envisioned that part of her life much later in life, after she was already established. Preferably married as well, to a husband who wanted kids and could help her raise them. She could easily have let Detective Morino take Asuma last night, to be placed in protective custody until they found a family for him.

But something in her rebelled at the idea. Asuma was her godson. Just because Ino hadn't planned on needing a godmother in the purest sense of the word didn't mean that she still didn't have that responsibility. She loved this little baby with all her heart, and the idea of him at the orphanage with other babies, waiting to be taken home by somebody, by a family who might never come for him…

She wanted to throw up just thinking about it. No. _No._

She'd rushed to Chouji's house last night after leaving the police station, and didn't remember much of their conversation; he seemed to understand her need to take Asuma back to Ino's with her, and through teary eyes promised to let their other friends know what had happened so she wouldn't have to. Infinitely grateful but in no position to express it, she'd nodded, hugged him tightly, and loaded Asuma into the back of her car.

By now, Chouji would have told the others. She was thankful for that; she could barely _think_ the words 'dead' and 'Ino and Shikamaru' without breaking down. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be for him to tell everyone that their friends weren't coming back.

There was so much to do today, and Sakura wondered how she was going to be able to pull herself up out of bed and take care of it all. All she wanted to do was lay here with the baby, inhaling Ino's cheap perfume until her best friend decided to waltz through the door and sing, "April Fool's!"

The doorbell rang. Sakura sat up in surprise, and the sudden noise brought Asuma out of sleep. He let out a little yawn and predictably began to cry.

_Damn it,_ she thought, standing up with a weepy Asuma on her hip. _I guess they're already here._

Knowing she would have to face everyone eventually, she wiped the tears from her eyes and headed into the hallway to answer the door, expecting to see Naruto or Kiba or Chouji.

Instead, to her surprise, it wasn't one of her friends. Instead a police officer was waiting outside the apartment when she opened the door; he was young, probably her age, tall and well-built, dark eyes and dark hair. If she wasn't utterly distraught at the moment, she would have found him painfully good-looking; he had that air of aloof arrogance about him, something she'd always been shamefully attracted to.

"Can I help you?" she asked quietly, taken aback by how dead her voice sounded.

"I'm Officer Uchiha," the cop introduced, his tone deep and a little bit thrilling. "You're Miss Haruno, right?"

"Yeah."

"Detective Morino sent me to do a welfare check."

She narrowed her eyes, instantly disliking his professional detachment. She shifted Asuma, who'd since stopped crying as he looked up at the imposing police officer in wonder, from one hip to the other.

"To make sure I wasn't hanging from the ceiling?" she snapped. "Well I'm not. And the baby's fine."

To his credit, Officer Uchiha didn't bristle at her attitude; most likely he'd been warned by Detective Morino ahead of time what had happened and not to push her too hard. Sakura knew her temper was awful, and it was usually her primary coping mechanism. Much more could be accomplished when you were angry than when you were depressed.

"There's a custody hearing this afternoon," he informed her.

"Al-Already?" Sakura wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing for her. Would she need more time than this to prepare to go before a judge and prove she was fit to be a mother?

"Detective Morino pulled some strings to move it up for you," he said. "He's got an in with the judge."

"That's…I mean…"

"It means he thinks you're up to the task of raising this kid," Sasuke clarified, his eyes flickering to Asuma.

"He knows nothing about me," Sakura said haughtily. "I could be a child killer for all he knows."

"…you know I'm a cop, right?"

Sakura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know. I'm sorry, I'm just…you can come in, by the way, sorry to be rude. I just really…can't think straight right now."

Officer Uchiha hesitated, then stepped inside at her invitation and closed the door behind him. She gathered that under normal circumstances, he would have declined, but anyone could tell she was a loose cannon at the moment, and it was probably best to handle her delicately.

"So what happens at this hearing?" she asked, taking a seat on the sofa and nodding for the policeman to do the same thing.

"You'll have a lawyer," he explained quietly. "In this case it's the attorney your friends met with when they named you godmother. He'll try and prove to the judge that you're fit to be a mother. If he does, you get full custody. If the judge thinks you won't be up for it, then he'll go into CPS."

"Oh my God," Sakura whispered, tears filling her eyes again at the horrifying prospect. If there was one thing scarier to her than raising Asuma herself, it was letting him go. She held the baby tighter, as if rebelling against the very possibility.

"I wouldn't worry too much." Officer Uchiha sounded strangely awkward, as though comforting a grieving young godmother wasn't something he typically bothered with. "From what Morino said, you'll probably get custody. You've got an education. Place to live. Lot of friends and it's in their wills."

She looked up at him desperately, at this stranger who was only here because he was paid to be, and whispered, "What if I _can't_ do this? What if…I mean you don't know me. This isn't what I thought would happen when Ino asked me to be godmother. I'm…what if I can't be ready for this? I'm…I'm all he's got, what if I'm not good enough?"

Officer Uchiha hesitated, then placed a large warm hand on her shoulder, murmuring, "What you're doing…trying to take him in…that _already_ means you're good enough."

Sakura bit her lip, astonished at the flood of gratitude she was feeling for this young, surly officer she'd just met. Asuma cooed happily in her arms, reaching out towards Officer Uchiha as if wanting to be held by him instead.

The cop smirked a little at the baby, and poked his forehead, making Asuma burst into peals of laughter. Then he stood up and reached into his pocket.

"Here's my card," he said quietly, passing it towards Sakura. "Call me if you need anything. The hearing's today at 4:00, their lawyer will meet you there a half-hour early."

"…thank you, officer. I know I'm…I mean…"

"It's fine," he said shortly, and Sakura surmised that his well of sympathy had run dry. "Just…take care of yourself. And that kid. You're right: you're all he's got."

Without another word, Officer Uchiha let himself out. When the door shut quietly behind him, Sakura looked down at the card he'd left.

OFFICER SASUKE UCHIHA

WEST KONOHA POLICE DEPT.

There was a phone number also, one that looked like a private line.

"Sasuke," she said, testing the name on her lips, and liking the sound of it. He'd been very kind to her, even if his entire appearance suggested he was the type who liked to remain coolly detached from everything around him. Bizarrely enough, he'd offered his support for her custody hearing, and even more bizarrely, that kind of faith from a perfect stranger made her feel the tiniest bit better about the circumstances.

"I promise I'll be enough, baby," she whispered to Asuma, who smiled up at her as if he understood.

…

Sakura decided straight away that she hated her lawyer.

He was the archetypal sleazebag attorney with the slicked-back hair and everything; he knew almost nothing of the case besides the names of the deceased clients he was supposed to be representing, and Sakura knew he was only in this for the paycheck. Knowing that little Asuma's future rested in his hands, she felt that they both deserved better than that.

The hearing was in a small courtroom in the judiciary building, a place Sakura had visited once before on an elementary school fieldtrip. The judge looked very young from what she could tell, despite his silver-white hair and the fact that half of his face was hidden by an allergy mask. There was no jury, and Sakura wondered at her naivete. Everytime she envisioned a court hearing, she always imagined some evil prosecutor, a full jury waiting to pass judgment, and hundreds of spectators.

She held Asuma tight in her arms and waited while her asshole attorney rattled off a laundry list of her accomplishments.

"Miss Haruno here graduated at the top of her class from Konoha University," he said snidely to the judge. "She is enrolled at the prestigious Konoha School of Medicine where she makes top marks, and…"

"Actually I've deferred this year," Sakura interjected, while the lawyer tried to shush her.

"Let me do my job," he hissed.

"You've deferred?" asked His Honorable Judge Hatake, looking right at Sakura and ignoring her lawyer.

"I called my dean this morning," Sakura replied, deciding to ignore him, too. "She was really understanding. I'll go back next year, when things with Asuma are more established and he's a little older."

"You know I haven't given you custody yet, correct?" asked the judge.

"I know, but I'm his godmother. And it's not the way I wanted this to go, but he's mine."

"Objection, Your Honor!"

"Quiet, Mr. Ebisu, I'm speaking to your client. Miss Haruno, I understand that you are beginning what is sure to be a very successful career in medicine. Deferring for a year doesn't seem like the kind of thing a student like yourself would do."

Sakura swallowed hard. "It's not. But yesterday, I didn't have the responsibilities I do now. Asuma is my godson and he needs me. There's no need for him to be taken away from me, from all of Ino and Shikamaru's friends…we're his family. He needs that and we need him. I'm prepared to take full responsibility for him. I'll raise him myself."

"And are you employed, Miss Haruno?"

"Yes, sir. I'm a lab tech at the university. I choose my own hours and I make good money with my research, more than enough to afford a two-bedroom for me and Asuma and anything else we'll need. I already started looking. I've got a lot in savings."

"And what of student loans?"

"I don't have any, sir. I got a full scholarship both to college _and _medical school."

"And who would watch the child while you're working and, next year, while you're attending school?"

"Asuma's got a godfather…Chouji Akimichi…and we have a lot of friends, many who have helped raise Asuma ever since he was born."

Judge Hatake studied her for a few moments, blatantly ignoring her scandalized attorney Mr. Ebisu, and finally said, "I want it understood, Miss Haruno, that I am _not_ releasing Asuma Nara to the custody of your friends. As with any parent, you will have the right to choose who is allowed around this child, but understand this: _you_ are his sole guardian. His health, welfare, and happiness is _your_ responsibility. Sole custody of a child is not a light burden."

Sakura gasped. He was granting her custody?

"I will, sir," she swore, happy tears flooding her eyes. "I swear. I'll be enough for him. I'll be _more_ than enough!"

Judge Hatake smiled, or at least she figured he did, since she couldn't see under the mask, but his eyes crinkled up at the corners.

"I'm confident you will," he said warmly. "Full custody of Asuma Nara is granted to Sakura Haruno." He banged his gavel once and stood. "Court adjourned."

…

Sakura was almost breathless with relief. She knew the real battle was still to be fought – she'd just agreed, rather _demanded_ to be Asuma's primary caregiver, something she doubted she would _ever_ be ready for – but at least he wouldn't have to be separated from what remained of his shabby little family.

_I already lost your parents,_ she thought, kissing Asuma as she carried him outside of the courthouse. _I don't think I could handle losing you, too._

"Miss Haruno."

Sakura blinked and looked behind her; to her surprise, it was the same policeman who'd checked in on her that morning.

"Officer Uchiha," she said, pausing on the courthouse steps as he caught up with her.

"You're still not hanging from the ceiling," he said with a smirk, remembering her catty response to his call that morning. "I take it everything went well."

"It did. I've got full custody of him." Sakura smiled back, then decided she owed him an apology for earlier. "Look, I'm sorry if I was really…snappy this morning. I'm still trying to play catch-up. But I wanted to thank you."

Officer Uchiha frowned in confusion.

"I know you were just doing your job," she allowed. "But I thought you were…really sweet."

He looked taken aback, then he smirked again, folding his arms. "I've been called a lot of things before," he said, amused, "but that's never been one of them."

"Well maybe I'm just lucky," she said, and his smirk widened, but she was inwardly horrified.

_Your best friend is dead,_ she thought, _and you're her baby's new mother. Are you seriously flirting right now?_

"Anyway," she said, effecting cool professionalism to hide how much she hated herself, "thank you for coming by this morning. Have a good day, Officer Uchiha."

"Sasuke," he corrected her. "And you have my card if you need anything." With that he poked Asuma's forehead again with the same result as earlier – Asuma shrieking with happiness – and left; Sakura, realizing she was blushing, quickly rushed to the parking lot, Asuma secure in her arms.

_Flirting,_ she thought furiously. _You were _flirting._ God._

It was easy to feel light and airy around Sasuke, now that she wasn't worried about the state ripping Asuma out of her arms, but once she'd loaded Asuma into his car seat and driven away from the courthouse, all of the things she _should_ be feeling came crashing back: depression, anger, desperation, sorrow, stress.

Ino and Shikamaru were at the morgue; Chouji was going to handle the funeral arrangements while she took care of the baby. She knew that would be unimaginably hard, having to say goodbye to her friends once and for all. Not to mention the fact that she needed to find a two-bedroom apartment and babysitters for when she was working.

_Deferring a year was the right move,_ she thought, turning towards Ino's apartment complex while Asuma cooed happily in the backseat. _I need to be here for him as much as possible. I can't do that with a fulltime job AND medical school. I'll go back next year when things are more settled._

Financially, she knew it would be tight, but she could support herself and Asuma on her salary at the lab. Since she'd been given full scholarships, it was also a huge relief not to be shackled with a horrifying student debt the way her friends were.

But there wasn't enough room for herself _and_ a baby at her one-bedroom place right now, and she couldn't bear the idea of living in Ino and Shikamaru's apartment; it felt too much like a mausoleum. No, she would need something different, something new, a fresh start.

But all of that could wait a little longer, she realized, as she sniffed the air.

Someone needed a diaper change.

* * *

**note..** well hello there :)

so this idea came to me since i just started watching sons of anarchy (best ever), and the female lead is a successful doctor who steps up to the plate and raises a baby who isn't hers after the real mother is a crank whore. srsly go watch it. i also wanted to try something different in killing ino off right away; i usually rely on her to be sakura's best friend in all my stories so this'll be new for all of us i guess.

like a ton of you pointed out this is similar to 'life as you know it' and i'm like 'the fuck is that?' since i'd never seen it so i looked it up on wikipedia and lolololed because i can totally see how you'd think that. luckily though that's where the similarities end hahaha. i'll have to watch it sometime, though, josh duhamel is nothing to kick out of bed.

and here's sasuke! no he's not the asshole sakura was worried about in chapter one. i like having them meet later in life and i've got some good shit planned for them this time.

anyway! hope you enjoyed it, if you did, let me know!

xoxo daisy :)


	3. Chapter 3

"I never did something like this before," Sakura said quietly to the polished white marble.

Ino didn't answer; she never would again.

"You'd probably think this is really creepy of me," Sakura went on, letting her fingers drift over the white lilies resting in front of the headstone. "I can just hear you complaining about it. Lilies, right? So cliché for a funeral. You'll have to get over it, Pig. I've had more important things on my mind than what kind of flower you'd want."

She sighed, too tired to cry anymore, and adjusted so she was sitting with her legs crossed, hands folded in her lap.

"Chouji put this all together," she told Ino's grave. "I think it was really pretty, all things considered."

A few moments passed where Sakura entertained the idea that Ino was answering, criticizing the choice of white lilies and the venue and the entire institution of a funeral in the first place. She could have laughed. It was so easy imagining Ino's catty diatribe. She would have hated every moment of the ceremony.

"Asuma's with Naruto right now," she said quietly. "Chouji needed a little time to himself, I don't think he's really let himself process what happened. God knows I haven't had time to. I'm hoping that when it all hits me, really hits me, I can handle it. You don't know how angry I am at you, Pig. You left me when I needed you."

Tears rose quickly again but she blinked them back.

"Only now it's not about just me anymore, is it? Now I have to think for myself _and_ for Asuma. How could you think I'd be ready for something like that, Pig? I'm so mad at you. I'm so mad at you because you're not here and you should be. We should be…we should be taking Asuma to the park today, you and me! And passing him off to Shikamaru when we got home so we could go to the bar and let cute guys buy us drinks and laugh and dance and go home wasted! This wasn't in the plan! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

Sakura realized she was yelling at the headstone, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She'd bottled up everything that had happened over the past week and now it was starting to come out.

"He's doing okay," she told Ino's grave hotly. "I…I got custody of him. I'm gonna raise him myself. I'm pissed as hell at you, Ino, but I'd never let your baby go. I love him too much. I love _you_ too much. Just…just do me a favor, okay? And watch over him. I don't know if he knows you're gone yet, or if he'll ever get it, or if he'll remember you and Shikamaru when he's older. I don't know any of that but when he comes to me with questions I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna tell him he had the best, bitchiest, nastiest mother in the world and the laziest, most loving father in the world and that you two trusted him to me. So…so always stay with him, all right? Because if he's anything like me…he's gonna need you."

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and stood, dusting off the seat of her skirt.

"I'm moving tomorrow," she said softly. "I know you already know that but it's not like you're ever gonna answer me back so you can just listen. I've got a nice two-bedroom apartment for me and Asuma, it's downtown, closer to the university so I won't be too far away from him. I got my hours all set up at the lab…I'll be working late so I can be there for Asuma as much as possible. Chouji's gonna help out, too, and Naruto, and Kiba and Hinata and everybody else. We'll take care of him.

"The new place is really nice, though. With everything I have saved I could afford to get something he'll like when he's old enough to appreciate it. It's a first-floor, really bright and open and pretty. It's in a good neighborhood. West Konoha, close to the park. Good carpet, it's not heinous. Something he can crawl around on. The boys are helping us move, they're bringing over all of Asuma's things from your old place. He'll like it there, I think. He's a good boy."

Sakura smiled and pressed her lips to her fingers, then touched the gravestone with her best friend's name freshly emblazoned across it.

"I love you," she whispered. "Asuma loves you. I'll take good care of him for you, I promise. And someday I'll get over how mad I am at you for leaving. Just check in on him from time to time, yeah? And…and me, too, if you've got the time for it. I don't know what the hell they do up in heaven."

Sakura smiled again and left, folding her arms tightly to hold onto warmth. It was November and the winds were changing, picking up and getting colder; the black peacoat she was wearing didn't lend itself well to actually keeping her warm, but she figured Ino would have preferred her to be well-dressed at her burial than comfortable.

Her cell phone rang; automatically, she answered it. Being a primary caregiver for a week meant that all of her friends were constantly calling her, whether to check in on her and the baby, or needing advice if it was their turn to watch him and he did something they didn't understand. Without bothering to screen the call, she pressed Talk and said, voice still slightly choked with emotions, "Hello?"

"About time you answered, I was starting to feel insulted."

The deep, masculine voice on the other line had chills erupting on her skin with just two words. She froze in place and whispered, "I…I changed my number. How did you get this number?!"

He chuckled. "Can't hide from me, baby."

"It's _over,_" she hissed. "I want _nothing_ to do with you. Take a hint and leave me alone."

She went to hang up on him, but he ground out, "White lilies, huh? Kind of cliché for a funeral."

_Oh my God,_ she thought in complete terror, whirling around, searching for his tall, imposing silhouette in the empty cemetery. _He knows I'm here. He's watching me right now. Oh my God!_

"I just want you back, baby. Is that so much to ask for?"

She hung up without another word, and ran.

* * *

_Just calm down. Pull yourself together. You can't fall apart right now._

Sakura wondered when she would be allowed to fall apart, if not now. She'd just buried two of her friends, she was the primary caregiver of a six-month-old baby, and her ex-boyfriend was stalking her after over a year. How much more stress was one person supposed to be able to take before they snapped?

With shaking hands, she drove in circles through the city, hoping to lose him if he was still tailing her. Thankfully the baby was at Naruto's, and Naruto would sooner take a bullet between his eyes than let anything happen to either one of them. He was a good uncle to Asuma and a wonderful friend; she'd be safe there, until she was all moved in to her new place tomorrow.

She pulled up to his building and made sure no one was following her as she hurried inside.

Naruto was lying on his stomach on the floor, Asuma fast asleep on his back. A Disney movie was playing on the TV while both boys slumbered peacefully; Sakura was pleased to see that Naruto had cleaned up his apartment. There was nothing sharp Asuma could reach and nothing heavy that could fall on him.

She removed her coat and boots and bent down to pick up the baby. He didn't stir – Naruto must really have tired him out – and she sat down with him on the sofa.

"Hi, baby," she whispered, kissing his forehead. He still had that baby smell, even if he was growing. Six months old, he was a bit on the small side, but she suspected he'd be tall as hell someday, like his parents had been. His hair was thick and black, and his eyes, closed now in sleep, were dark, stormy blue. She loved to just look at him. He was fascinating.

"Naruto," Sakura said gently, and Naruto groaned and opened his eyes. It took him a minute to realize where he was before he recognized Sakura.

"Sak," he yawned, sitting up. "Jesus my back hurts. The kid likes to sleep on me."

"He loves you," Sakura said softly, rocking him. "Thanks for keeping him after the funeral."

"How was the burial? Had to have been rough."

"I'll be honest, Naruto, this whole thing fucking sucks."

He smiled sadly, sympathetically, and joined her on the couch, slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in against him. She felt instantly comforted by his warmth, and not for the first time, she wished that she could force herself to not just love Naruto, but to be _in_ love with him. He was a wonderful person, probably the best she knew, now that Ino was gone.

"She's not coming back, Naruto," Sakura whimpered, her voice childish and small.

"I know, baby."

"What if I'm not good at this? What if I'm a bad mother? What if…what if I drop him?"

"You won't drop him, Sak, don't be crazy. From the second he was born you've been like this big scary mother hen making sure we all support his neck and hold him up right."

"Well what if I screw him up somehow? I had no idea I'd be doing this, you know, what if I fuck him up forever? What if…what if he turns out to be some…some sad, depressed, messed-up kid because I'm too naïve to know what he needs?"

"You _are_ what he needs. Calm down, okay? You're doing great. This was always gonna be a shit time."

She quieted herself so she wouldn't wake a sleepy Asuma, and let Naruto massage her shoulder for a few minutes in companionable silence.

"The burial was brutal," she told him. "I stayed after it was over. I had to talk to her. I…I yelled at her."

Naruto grinned. "That's pretty much the only way she would've heard you anyway. That Ino."

"I love her so much," Sakura whispered. "And Shikamaru. And this baby, I love him more than anything, more than myself or you or anybody else who matters in this world. I want him to be happy. I want him to be healthy and I'll do everything I can to make it happen."

"'Course you will," Naruto replied, and she wished she could absorb some of the confidence he had in her for herself.

She hesitated, then said, "He called me. Just now."

Naruto frowned, puzzled, then realized what she was talking about. Growling slightly under his breath, he snapped, "What? Sakura I thought you changed your number!"

"I _did._ He…he was following me. I don't even know for how long. He called me as I was leaving the cemetery, he was _there._ Naruto, I…I don't know what to do anymore."

"I guess me beating the shit out of him wasn't a warning enough," Naruto snarled, standing up. "You need to get a…a restraining order, or something."

"I know. He's…I'm worried it's gonna get worse. I wouldn't even bother telling you this, but…"

She trailed off, clutching Asuma the tiniest bit tighter. Naruto didn't need for her to elaborate; he understood.

"You're both staying here tonight," he decided firmly. "Then I'll stay with you at the new place till we find out where he is and what he's doing."

Normally, Sakura would have shrugged him off. The touchy subject of her abusive ex-boyfriend was one she would have preferred to deal with alone; getting her friends involved last time had led to Naruto beating him to a bloody pulp and all of them hovering like bodyguards around her long after the relationship was over.

But now…now it wasn't just about her anymore. Now there was a six-month-old baby 100% reliant on her, and if she was in danger, then he was, too.

"Thank you," she said instead. "_Thank you,_ Naruto."

"I'm _serious_ about that restraining order, Sak," he said forcefully, brushing off her gratitude. "Don't you have a friend in the police department? The one who checked on you that day, the one who told you about the custody hearing?"

Clearly he'd been talking to Chouji, the only person Sakura had told about Officer Uchiha.

"I think 'friend' is a stretch," she replied, trying hard to ignore the memory of her flirtation. "He was just doing his job. But he did leave me his card, just in case…"

"Then call him. You've dealt with this asshole long enough, Sakura. He needs to be locked up. For good."

* * *

They could never make a decent cup of coffee in this dump.

Sasuke privately felt that as firm upholders of civil law in Konoha, he and the rest of his department should be entitled to the best coffee in the city. Not this weak, watery imitation of caffeinated sludge.

He drank it begrudgingly in his squadcar, dark eyes roving across the road looking for speeding cars, burnt-out taillights, the usual. A typical quiet night on duty, with a typical cup of weak, cheap coffee.

He wasn't necessarily proud of his thought processes, but when he'd joined the force, he had been hoping for a bit of action. He'd graduated from college with a degree in Criminology, but he'd wanted to do more than just figure out why criminals did bad things. He'd wanted a piece of the action, so right before he graduated college, he enrolled at the police academy.

22, and one of the only cops on the force with a college education as well, he was the pride of the West Konoha Police Department. Judge Hatake, his sponsor throughout the Academy, made it clear that he expected him to obtain a detective's badge one day. He was destined for great things.

…hopefully that would include a bigger desk, a private office, and a cup of good _fucking_ coffee for _once._

Granted, no action was usually a good thing. Being a cop wasn't without its risks, and while Sasuke enjoyed the danger his job carried every now and then, he wasn't a terribly big fan of dodging bullets and frisking perps for dirty heroin needles.

At least, not all the time.

He sighed and lifted his radar gun somewhat lazily, clocking different cars as they raced by. Sasuke rarely busted speeding cars, feeling somewhat rebellious in that he knew he drove quite fast as well, so it was more muscle memory than anything. Cops typically took the law into their own hands, and Sasuke preferred to devote his energy to catching _real_ criminals, not some underpaid waiter rushing to get to the restaurant on time.

He was nearly off duty. Nothing major had happened that day. He'd found and impounded a stolen vehicle, and cited two teenagers for trying to make off from the local department store with a handful of stolen DVDs. More importantly, he'd ingested four cups of this nauseating coffee, something he felt he should be awarded a medal for.

Ignoring a car that sped by him ten miles over the speed limit, he was just about to head back to the station when his cell phone rang.

That was unusual; people rarely called his cell phone for anything, simply because he only gave it out to a handful of people. His superiors at the station knew it, but most of them preferred to contact him over the system, and he had a separate line for his family and friends. This one he kept mostly for work.

The Caller ID read "Haruno, Sakura," a name that he might normally have forgotten. Sasuke wasn't terribly good at remembering names or faces, but hers stuck out a fair bit. He recalled the pretty girl with the hostile temper and the puzzlingly coquettish personality, and answered a bit quicker than could be considered strictly casual.

"Sasuke Uchiha, WKPD."

"Hi, Officer Uchiha. Oh, wait, Sasuke, you told me to call you Sasuke, sorry…this is Sakura. Not that you remember me or anything. Sakura Haruno? I was the one who got custody of Asuma Nara? You know, the baby?"

He chuckled, a little amused. Sakura was funny without meaning to be.

"I remember, Miss Haruno," he said, stifling his amusement; he doubted she was calling him socially, the worry in her voice quashed any possibility of that. "What can I do for you? Everything okay with the kid?"

"Oh, Asuma? No, he's fine, he's great. It's just…I had a, um, a question about something. I didn't want to call 911 or anything, but…"

"But what? What's wrong?"

"I have this…well, I was wondering if…how do you get a restraining order?"

"A restraining order?" This wasn't what he was expecting her to call about, but his cop identity took over. "Against who? For what?"

"An ex-boyfriend of mine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"He…he and I used to work together. Or rather, I still work there and he got fired for…for everything that went down between us, and…and _whatever,_ that's not important. Point is he's been following me…he knows my new number, he was at the cemetery today, somewhere, when I was burying my friends. I need to know how to get a restraining order against him, I can't have him coming around the baby."

"Where are you now, Miss Haruno? Somewhere safe?"

"Yes, I'm at a friend's house. The baby's here, too. 2120 31st Street, 2nd floor."

"Is there any chance you were followed?"

"…I drove around for awhile trying to lose him just in case, but I have no idea. Maybe."

"Stay where you are," Sasuke ordered, turning the key in the ignition. "I'm on my way."

* * *

**note..** hey babies.

xoxo daisy :)


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke didn't often abuse the power being in a squadcar afforded him, and he doubted there was any real urgency in rushing over to Sakura's friend's house, but he was dying for a little bit of action.

It didn't hurt that the action was pretty, either, but that was neither here nor there.

He made it across WeKo easily, knowing exactly the apartment building Sakura had been talking about when she gave him her friend's address. It was a decent complex, in a neighborhood that was neither especially nice nor particularly deplorable. He knew many local college students made it their home because it was affordable.

Once there, he parked his car conspicuously out front; it was amazing how many criminals steered clear of a place just because of a well-placed police squadcar. Keeping his hand on his gun, he jogged up the walkway and stepped inside the building.

_2__nd__ floor,_ he thought, recalling the address Sakura had given him. He headed up the stairs keeping his eyes peeled for suspicious activity or people, but it seemed the first floor was empty. He rang the doorbell and called out, "Miss Haruno? Officer Uchiha, open up!"

There was a rustle from upstairs and he stood back to give her room to open the door. Sakura answered looking very tired and a little breathless; she'd clearly just come from her friends' funerals, dressed in a simple black dress with her eye makeup smeared, doubtlessly from crying. Hating that he still found her very attractive, he effected cool professionalism.

"I came right over," he said needlessly, having just hung up with her five minutes ago.

"Clearly," she replied, a little amused if the tired smile she offered was any indication. "Um, why don't you come inside, I guess?"

Like many people who had never committed a crime before, she didn't seem to have any clue on how to handle a police interrogation. He returned his gun to his holster and followed her inside, watching to make sure she locked the door behind them.

"This is my friend Naruto's place," she said, when they stepped into the living room. "I'm crashing here with the baby until we get everything moved in to my new place."

"When's that?" Sasuke asked, eyes sweeping across the small but respectable apartment for signs of suspicion.

"Tomorrow morning. It's in WeKo, by the university. Fresh Start Manor."

Sasuke knew of the reasonably new apartment complex that had gone up in WeKo; it was in a nice area of town and home to a number of families. It was definitely a good choice for Sakura and her new baby, much better than this apartment, which had recently been cleaned but still smacked of a college bachelor pad.

"This is Naruto," Sakura said, and Sasuke looked up to see a tall, burly blonde man coming in from the kitchen. The baby – Asuma, if he remembered right – was awake and in his arms, his almost frighteningly clear blue eyes settling exclusively on Sasuke as a big smile spread across his face.

"Hey, man," said Naruto, extending his free hand out to Sasuke to shake, which he did. "Nice to meet you, thanks for coming."

"Officer Uchiha," Sasuke introduced himself. "Boyfriend?"

"I wish!" Naruto laughed, at the same time Sakura replied, "No, we're just friends."

Something felt a bit lighter in Sasuke's stomach at that, but he refused to delve farther into it. At best, Sakura was emotionally unavailable at the moment; at worst, she was the victim of an ex-boyfriend's stalking. Either way, to so much as consider her in anything other than a professional capacity was out of the question.

"Sorry to bug you so soon after the dust settled on everything," Sakura apologized, folding her arms and looking a little disappointed in herself. "I hate being a bother."

"It's not a bother if someone's stalking you," Sasuke said forcefully. "What's his name? Your ex-boyfriend."

"Shi. Shi Fukuda. He was a tech at the lab I work at. He was fired after…"

She trailed off, looking markedly uncomfortable, but the blonde guy, Naruto, placed his hand on her shoulder in a show of support.

"It's all right, he's got to know if he's gonna help you," he said kindly. To Sasuke, he explained, "They dated for six months. He got really creepy, started following her, reading her emails and texts and shit…possessive as hell, tried to keep her away from her friends. One night he hit her, so she broke it off. Somehow he never got the hint, though."

Sasuke studied Sakura as Naruto told the story. She avoided his eyes, clearly ill at ease over what was being discussed.

"How long have you two been broken up?" he asked instead, taking down the information in his PDA.

"It's been over a year," Sakura answered. "He tried to break in one night after I broke up with him, but Naruto was there."

"I laid him out," Naruto said smugly.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sakura agreed, smiling at the memory before frowning at her reality. "He was quiet after that, but it started up again a few months later. Ino was pregnant, I know that…when she had the baby, I changed my phone number and all the locks on my apartment hoping he wouldn't be able to contact me anymore, but I still had letters in my inbox at work, pictures and stuff. Really…really fucked up stuff, honestly."

"Did you save any of them?" Sasuke demanded, knowing he'd need evidence of this Shi Fukuda's crime before he could get Sakura the protection she needed.

"I threw out a lot, but lately I kept them in case I'd need them. They're at my apartment."

"Hn. Let's go get them."

"What, right now?" Naruto asked, frowning. "It's late, man."

"It's okay," Sakura assured him. "Can you just hang onto Asuma here for a little while? I know exactly where they're at, it'll only take a half hour at most."

She grabbed her coat from the back of the couch and quickly pulled on a pair of boots, then dropped a quick kiss to Asuma's head. Sasuke knew he was hard and unmoved by a lot of things, but the look the baby got in his eyes when Sakura kissed him _nearly_ drew a smile to his face. Sakura very well might be going through it right now, but at least her new kid loved her entirely and absolutely.

"I'm parked out front," Sasuke said, holding open the door for her and nodding a goodbye to her friend. "Walk behind me."

He led her outside to his squadcar, and held the front door open for her. She giggled as she got inside.

"I never knew if anybody ever got to ride shotgun in a police car," she explained at his inquisitive stare. "Besides other cops. Now I know."

He smirked and got into the driver's seat, started the car, and pulled away.

"Uh, I live the other way," she informed him as he turned down Hillcrest. "By the bridge?"

He frowned. "That's not where I checked in on you the other day."

"No, that was…that was Ino's place, remember?"

Sasuke wanted to kick himself for forgetting that she'd been camping out at Ino's the night of the accident, and quickly changed the subject so as not to upset her any further.

"Do you have a picture of him?" he asked.

"Yeah, a few."

"I'll run his name through the system, see what comes up. No idea where he lives?"

"None. He moved right after everything happened."

"Phone number? Facebook? Anything like that?"

"His texts and calls all show up 'Restricted,' and I think he changes phones. He took down his Facebook and Twitter after I blocked him."

"Hn. Sounds like he knows what he's doing."

Sakura hesitated, crossing and uncrossing her legs again from the seat beside him, before she said, "Look, I'm sorry to be such a pain in the ass. I swear I'm not usually this…dysfunctional."

Sasuke chuckled and shook his head. "You don't need to apologize for anything. Apart from your taste in boyfriends, it sounds like you're doing a pretty decent job, all things considered."

He literally _could not_ believe the words coming out of his mouth. This wasn't his style, at all. This wasn't the kind of person he was. Never before had a fucking insignificant citizen elicited so…_much_ from him before. He was comforting her, reassuring her, rushing to her aid in the middle of the night when it wasn't really his responsibility to do so…

It would figure that the first girl he'd show any interest in in years would be someone entirely inappropriate to consider.

"…you look young. Like my age." Sakura was staring at him now, eyes squinted as if trying to figure him out. "Oh, make a left up here, it's much faster. Yup, right by the harbor. How old are you?"

"Thirty-six."

"Liar."

He smirked. "22," he replied truthfully.

"I was only off by a year, then," she said with triumph.

"You're 21?"

"Yeah. I just graduated from KU, did you go there?"

"Nah. Oto Tech."

"Oh, wow, I have a friend who went there! She would have graduated with you, I think, her name's Karin?"

Sasuke winced at the memory of very red hair, very strong perfume, and very unwelcome sexual advances; Sakura noticed, and laughed.

"Yeah she comes on a bit strong," Sakura allowed. "And you'd be her type, for sure."

Unable to resist her banter now that she was in good spirits, Sasuke asked, "And what's her type?"

"Tall, dark, and handsome," Sakura replied promptly, then her eyes went wide and she clapped her hands over her mouth, plainly mortified.

Sasuke couldn't help himself; he laughed, and a real one at that, the kind only his mother could elicit. She clearly hadn't meant to say something so bold, but he'd be lying if he said it did nothing for his admittedly massive ego.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand – which was _not_ chatting up a victim – he choked back the rest of his laughter and followed her directions to her apartment in silence.

When they arrived, he escorted her inside, eyes moving back and forth to gauge their surroundings in case she was being followed even now. There was nothing overly suspicious about the building, a nice low-rent apartment complex full of young people just starting out. Basic red brick and a decent-sized parking lot with a few well-trimmed rosebushes but nothing more than that. He did not register anything out of the ordinary as Sakura let them into her apartment.

Moving boxes littered the small space but everything had been taken down from the walls, all the furniture stacked by the door ready to be moved.

"Sorry it's such a mess," Sakura apologized automatically, and unnecessarily. "I kept everything in a hat box just in case."

She began rummaging through her packed belongings while Sasuke watched quietly from the doorway, one hand on his gun purely on reflex.

"How far back did you start keeping track of his communications?" he asked.

"Right about the time Asuma was born," she replied, not looking up from her search for the hat box. "Before that I just threw everything away. Like it made me uncomfortable and everything but not to the point where I wanted to take it to the cops. It got worse, though, as time went on."

"Usually does," he replied grimly.

"Yeah. I should've known better than to get mixed up with him, but…oh, here it is!"

She pulled a pink-and-yellow striped hat box out from a very large cardboard box full of clothes and set it on the floor, opening the lid so he could see inside. There were at least a hundred plain white index cards inside, each with a printed message; he picked one up at the corner and read, "Skinny jeans and a new sweater from downtown."

Frowning, he asked, "What the hell's that mean?"

Sakura blushed, uncomfortable, and replied quietly, "That's what I was wearing the day he sent that message."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. As a cop, he had a typical distaste for the common criminal, but few things worked his nerves harder than a guy who devoted time to stalking and scaring women. He could imagine how out of her mind this might make Sakura, having proof that she was being followed and watched but no idea how to stop it.

He dropped the card back into the box and rifled through the rest of the contents. Underneath the index cards were several Polaroids, all of them depicting Sakura at various times of the day. A few showed her working out at the gym, some depicted her laughing with friends, a couple of them documented her in a white labcoat hard at work in a laboratory. They were candids; she wasn't looking up in any of them and was clearly unaware she was being photographed in the first place.

"I need to take this to the station," he said, placing everything back in the hat box and closing the lid. "He didn't hand-write anything which makes it harder to trace."

"He's smart," Sakura murmured, crossing her arms again. "Really smart."

"I'll need you to come with me," he went on. "I have to take an official statement. I'm not sure if this is enough to get the RO for you since there's no solid evidence it was him who's doing this but I'll see what I can do."

Sakura blinked and he found himself weighted down by her heavy stare. It was impossible to gauge what was going through her mind as she studied him, and then she smiled.

"I promise I'm not usually this much trouble," she said wryly.

Sasuke smirked and lifted the hat box, nodding towards the door. "Not sure I believe you."

* * *

"I can't thank you enough for all your help," Sakura said when he took her back to her friend's house later that night. Her statement had been taken and the hat box with all of her ex-boyfriend's nefarious communication was currently being perused by the evidence department. If anything at all could be tied to Shi Fukuda, they would find it.

"'S my job, Miss," he replied airily, as he walked her up the steps.

"I know, but still."

They reached Naruto's front door and Sasuke paused, laying a gentle but hopefully professional hand on her shoulder. She turned back to look at him expectantly, and he was momentarily struck by the green of her eyes. They were streaked with gold and almost catlike, and vibrant even in the dim light of the hallway.

_Pull yourself together, Romeo,_ he thought harshly. _You've got a job to do._

"One of the detectives'll call you tomorrow with the info you need on the RO," he told her. "Stay with somebody you trust at all times till the paperwork goes through, same for the kid."

"Of course."

"If you feel like you're in any immediate danger, or if he tries to contact you again, you have my number. _Use it._"

Sakura smiled, small but very grateful, and tucked her bangs behind her ears almost shyly.

"Everything's been so stressful lately," she said softly, "and you've been such a help. And I _know_ it's your job before you say it again. But seriously. You have _no idea_ how much I appreciate all this."

Sasuke couldn't _believe_ the thoughts running through his head, but at the moment, he wanted nothing more in the world than to kiss her. If you discounted the fact that she was being systematically stalked by a sinister ex-boyfriend and he was paid to protect her, it almost felt like he was bringing her home after a date. He'd enjoyed what snippets of her personality he'd been able to see underneath all of her stress and worry, even had a few laughs, and now it felt like the proper way to end the evening was to pull her in by that tiny waist of hers and…

_You're out of your fuckin' mind,_ he thought, completely horrified by himself. He needed to leave before he did something he would regret, like kiss her and subsequently force her to rescind her trust and gratitude towards him.

"Just be careful," he said stiffly, with a quick nod of his head. "…Miss."

"_Sakura,_" she corrected, and when he glanced back at her on his way out of the building, he found her looking back at him and smiling.

* * *

"Did you get anything?" Sasuke asked.

Izumo's fingers swept across the keyboard as he searched through the police database. He didn't look up from his research as he replied, "Not much. No priors, he's not in the system. Graduated from KU two years ago but beyond that, nothin'."

"Hn. The vic said there was a big fight between them that got him fired, any way we can get ahold of the boss?"

"Where was it at?"

"She works at the university lab."

"I can put a call in, see if we can dig up any info on him from whoever was in charge. Maybe they'll be able to tell us where this guy scampered off to, I can't even get an address. Sounds like your vic doesn't know what happened to him after the big breakup."

Sasuke frowned and folded his arms, leaning against Izumo's desk and deep in thought. "She's pretty scared. Whoever this guy is, it looks like he's escalating."

Izumo finally tore his gaze away from the computer screen, and he said slowly, "You know kid don't take this the wrong way or anything, but it's almost two AM and you went off-duty six hours ago."

"Your point?" Sasuke asked a little defensively.

"Just that it's a little out of character for you to get so invested in a case. 'Specially one as cut-and-dry as an ex-boyfriend who can't get over his girlfriend. Not the kind of client you're typically…"

"It's not my job to pick and choose which people in the city need help," Sasuke interjected, arrogant and self-righteous to conceal his anger at how easy he was to read. "I'm goin' home. Call me if you get anything on him."

Before Izumo could make another stupid observation, Sasuke seized his jacket and left the precinct, heading down to his motorcycle parked in the police lot. Officers only used squadcars when on duty; when off the clock, Sasuke drove a bike that made his mother out of her mind with worry.

There was almost nodody left on the streets, which made for a quick and peaceful ride home. It was a little colder than he would have liked but he hardly had time to notice the temperature, his thoughts swirling around everything that had happened that day and everything that might happen tomorrow.

Had he really been that obvious?

Izumo was right; it wasn't normal behavior for Sasuke to spend an extra six hours with a victim unless absolutely necessary. Usually he would take her statement and shunt her off to somebody else, not escort her personally around town, interrogate her for information, and linger around the precinct waiting for more intel. Sasuke knew the dangers involved in getting too involved in a case.

But there was _something_ about Sakura that he wanted to see more of. He knew almost nothing about her besides the fact that she was experiencing a bit of bad luck at the moment, but besides the obvious – she was pretty, she was smart, and she was funny – there was something that he deeply admired. Her readiness to step up to the plate and take in a child that wasn't hers, her willingness to put her own dreams on hold for the baby's sake, the lengths she was going to in order to keep them both safe…all of that appealed to him.

He sighed, frustrated. This…attraction was most inopportune; as far as he was concerned, Sakura redefined the phrase "off-limits." Everything about her practically screamed that getting involved with a guy just wasn't an option right now: the tragic death of her best friend, her unexpected motherhood, the fact that her last boyfriend was a psycho stalker…but Sasuke couldn't turn this bizarre feeling off.

His mother would call it "love at first sight," but he was more practical than that. He was…

Interested.

_And maybe,_ he thought with a self-deprecating smirk as he parked his bike in front of his place, _maybe that's just as bad._

* * *

**note..** hey :) okay so sakura's ex-boyfriend is shi. his name's 'C' in the anime but i can't really make that work organically in an AU story so i'm calling him 'shi' because that's how you pronounce it. also since C doesn't have a last name, and i needed him to, i gave him the last name of his voice actor lolz. such a pain in the ass, i know. but i picked him because he's in the same field as sakura in the manga and a total dick imho. i don't like using OCs if i can help it: y'alls ain't here for anything but naruto.

anyway hope you liked it, let me know if you did! if you didn't, you really don't have to tell me, i don't care.

xoxo daisy :)


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